This Year, Bullpen A Relief For Zimmer

PHILADELPHIA — It was raining on Veterans Stadium, adding a gloom to the City of Brotherly Love that decaying Philadelphia really didn`t need.

But even with a rainout Saturday to interrupt a week of unabated joy for his Cubs, there was little depression showing in the classic baseball face of Donald William Zimmer.

``Right now,`` said the manager, whose team will remain alone atop the National League East for at least one more day, ``I say to myself, `If I get past the fifth inning I know what I want to do.` That`s a pretty good feeling, whether it works or it doesn`t.

``Last year, after the first 20 days, that was out the window. I didn`t know where to go or why to go.``

He was talking, of course, about his bullpen.

``For the first 20 days, Goose (Gossage) was my short man. After 20 days of that I`d seen enough, and what did I say? `Anybody that looks like he can get somebody out in the ninth can pitch the ninth.` Well, I never could find him.``

Right now, he knows where to go.

Mitch Williams has pitched in six games. Five were save opportunities, and he has five saves.

Calvin Schiraldi has pitched in five games. One was a save opportunity, and he has one save.

Williams` earned run average is 1.42. Schiraldi, who has a win to go with the save, has an ERA of 1.80.

Zimmer`s team is 7-2.

``The bullpen has been unbelievable, you`d have to say, right?`` Zimmer asked, and then he answered his own question. ``They`ve done a great job. It may not be every day. I may not want to go to Schiraldi tomorrow in the sixth inning.

``But I`ve got two guys throwing the ball good, and I know where I`m going. That`s a great feeling.``

- Saturday`s scheduled game will be played as part of a July 31 twi-night double-header. It means the Cubs and Phillies greet August by playing five games in four days. Rick Sutcliffe and Floyd Youmans, who were set to go Saturday, will be Sunday`s starters. Mike Bielecki, who would have pitched Sunday, may be pushed back a few days.

- An injury and Mitch Webster`s success have conspired to keep Darrin Jackson on the bench. Except for Damon Berryhill, who has been on the disabled list, Jackson is the one rostered Cub yet to play in 1989.

``There`s a lefty in there, and he (Zimmer) knows I`m healthy,`` Jackson said before Friday`s game, in which left-hander Bruce Ruffin was the Phils`

starter. ``I guess I`m not going to be playing against lefties after all.``

Jackson was to play left field against left-handers until switch-hitter Webster`s torrid start. A rib-cage strain, now healed, also set him back for a couple of days.

- Rookie Steve Wilson, from British Columbia, was treated to a Flyers-Caps playoff game on Thursday`s night off in Philadelphia. Afterward, he was introduced to former Flyer great Bobby Clarke.

``That was great,`` Wilson said. ``The guy`s a legend. To a Canadian kid, it was like meeting and talking with Mickey Mantle.``

- Cubs doctors and trainers are confident that Thursday`s cortisone shot in Berryhill`s shoulder will get him back on the active list soon. Berryhill`s problem is still being called tendinitis, and doctors hope this injection, in a lower part of the shoulder, will rid Berryhill of the pain he`s felt since early in spring training.

``I`m definitely shut down for three days, and probably five, just to make sure,`` Berryhill said. ``We`ll see how it feels after that.

``One day it`s going to feel better, I hope. Nothing seems to work right now.``

- The Phillies sent Ruffin to the minor leagues Saturday. He allowed four runs, including one on a wild pitch, in the Phils` 6-4 loss to the Cubs.

The 25-year-old lefty has a 12.15 ERA, allowing nine runs, four walks and 15 hits in 6 2/3 innings. He has started two games and lost both.

``He needs to pitch, and I hated to put him in the bullpen,`` Phillies manager Nick Leyva said of the decision to send Ruffin to Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes-Barre.

``If I put him in the pen, you don`t know how much he`ll get to pitch. There`s nothing wrong with his arm or mechanics. There`s a mental block there. He needs to experience some success and gain some confidence, especially early in the game.``

Replacing Ruffin in the five-man rotation will be left-handed reliever Larry McWilliams, who will make his first start Tuesday in New York.